So what do bankers have to do to earn a million a year? Are they worth it?

Not really, says Geraint Anderson, former investment banker and author of Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile.

In his 12 years as a City analyst, Anderson certainly faced many early starts, angry clients, high-pressured presentations and endless number crunching. But he believes banking insiders are out of touch with reality when they argue that they deserve high pay because of high risks, high pressure and long hours. None of those are unique to banking. "Soldiers, policemen and doctors take bigger risks ... and from what I've seen, it's more stressful being a teacher at a dodgy secondary school," he says.

Anderson, who was earning a base salary of £120,000 and bonus of £500,000 when he left banking, alludes to unwritten rules between City players to keep pay high, by all sticking by the same justifications. "I see it as a tight-knit club where there's a huge interest for all those involved for keeping salaries high," he says.

A bubble has grown around them, whereby bankers do not realise what those in other industries earn, he adds. "One of the most horrifying things is seeing a 24-year-old kid two years into his career ... walking away from his bonus meeting having received half a million and looking disgusted at it."

Of course, there is a whole spectrum of jobs in the City and a whole range of characters. But Anderson has plenty of tales of trips to strip clubs, thousand-pound client dinners put on expenses and long cab rides back to Haslemere and other towns in the stockbroker belt, courtesy of the bank.

In his former life as an analyst covering shares, Anderson started his day at 6.50am, scanning the newswires for breaking news on the companies he covered, running down to the trading floor to talk to traders, hitting the phone to brief clients and meeting bigger clients face to face. At lunchtime, he would head for a nice meal with wine at a top City restaurant and spend the afternoon chewing over numbers and taking more calls before heading home or to dinner between 5.30pm and 7pm.

The day in the life of a trader is rather different. They are tied to market hours and to their screens, have no time for big lunches and end every day by running detailed reports on what risks they have taken and how much money they have made or lost.

On the upside, there is more money to be earned and there are perks on offer from brokers – middlemen who facilitate the buying and selling of shares, bonds and so on and keep traders sweet with meals out, drinks and lunch deliveries.

Day in the life of a trader

6am Alarm rings

6.30am Pick up FT and WSJ Europe on way to Notting Hill tube. Jump on Central Line. Wish I had taken a cab or better still had a parking space at work for my Porsche

7am Arrive at work, glad I am not one of the traders who has to get in even earlier for Frankfurt opening